


Starlight

by Ambrose



Series: Dare to Write Challenge [47]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 06:59:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15528744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambrose/pseuds/Ambrose
Summary: Raven's stargazing is rudely interrupted.





	Starlight

Raven had always dreamt of space. It's weird, when you think about it. She literally lived in space! But when her mom was being drunk and yelling at her, or when she felt the pangs of hunger in her belly, she would just think of being out there, in the stars - alone in her little astronaut suit, just her and the moon and the stars. 

It was never truly dark on the Ark. She only realised that once she'd landed on earth, and looked up to the sky at night. Here, when the campfires were barely embers anymore, you just had to step a little further into the trees and you could see the stars in a way she'd never seen them for years and years. She was not in the stars, exactly. But they felt closer and more beautiful than ever, and Raven was left contemplating the sheer luck she had that she got to see this. That she got to be one of the last surviving humans on this planet. That she survived her childhood and her heart defect and did not get thrown in prison and managed to land and survived a war or two and a couple of bullets too. All so she could sit here, right now, her bum in the moss of a clearing, half a day's ride from the city, and looking up to see millions of stars in the nightsky, peaceful and oblivious to all her troubles. 

There was a rustle behind her, and Raven turned around. Not quite worried, really - this was a peaceful part of the Wood clan's territories. But she did tense up. She could fend for herself, she'd made sure of that. But this was her moment, and most of all she was annoyed at being disturbed. 

That is, until she recognised Anya's profile in the faint moonlight. She did not ask what she was doing here. The both of them had this cordial hatred for each other, made of teasing and poking to see where the other would give, and if she were honest, Raven really enjoyed that. The why and how did not really matter.

"Mind if I join you?" Anya asked, unexpectedly. Raven simply nodded.

Anya lay down next to her, her head inches from Raven. She focused on the sky, but Raven could not take her eyes off her. What had made her come here, in the middle of the night? What did she want? But Anya did not seem in the mood for talking. Raven could live with that, too. It did not have to always be barbs and wires. She found she really enjoyed the woman's presence, the soft confidence she exuded that made Raven feel at ease in what could otherwise have been an awkward silence.

Finally, Anya turned her head towards her. "I often wonder how it is, out there. Do you ever miss it?"

"Miss it?"

"The Ark. Being so close to space. Do you ever wish you could go back?"

Raven almost laughed, but she tried to repress it. Anya did not like being mocked. And indeed, she caught it anyways, and frowned at her. "Did I say something stupid, then?"

"No, no," Raven answered softly. "It's just. You don't know how it was up there. It was never freedom. We were all stuck on the Ark, and I was lucky enough to become a zero-G mechanic so I could go outside. But you're still held by a tether and you can't get any further... I've always wanted to see more of the stars."

"But here, you're stuck on the ground, why do you make it sound so much better?"

"Just look out there!" Raven exclaimed. "We did not have that, up there. Space was never so beautiful. From here I feel like I can almost reach out and grab the moon. Up there space was just an enemy to contend with. And you could never explore space. Everything is too big, too far. Here, you've got the whole world left to explore!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes! What is it, Anya?" She was almost shy, reserved - a side of her that Raven had never seen, and that started to worry her. This was a strong warrior, someone as thick as stone, who did not buckle under a hit, and who certainly never lost her barbed tongue. 

Anya propped herself on an elbow, and stared at Raven from above.

"So you would not go back?"

"No, not even if I could."

"Good."

Raven raised an eyebrow. Good?

"Because I could not bear that."

The words seemed to surprise herself almost as much as they surprised Raven. She sat up, looking down at her legs, as if ashamed of what she had just said, or not knowing what to do with herself.

"Hey," Raven eventually said, softly, reaching for her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. Besides," she grinned when Anya finally turned towards her, "I'd have to take you with me, or who else am I going to taunt so easily!"

"If it were so easy you would not enjoy it so much!" Anya answered without a second's hesitation. Now, this was known territory, the easy banter they'd come to enjoy over the months. Raven had always thought it was due to animosity on Anya's part. She had killed so many of her people... She had been an inconvenience in so many ways since then... It had never really occurred to her that this distance that they kept between them, even when they teased each other like that, might be due to affection instead.

Dropping her hand from Anya's shoulder, she lay back down in the grass, without a word. She was not here for a fight, even a playful, choreographed one as theirs were. She just wanted to enjoy Anya's company for once. In peace.

Eventually Anya lay back down too. Raven noticed how she relaxed bit by bit, and thought she might even have fallen asleep, until a hand reached for her own in the dark.

She did not say a word, did not even try to look at Anya lest it break the moment between them. She only squeezed Anya's hand in hers gently, an acknowledgement. 

They must have laid there for hours, until Raven finally fell asleep. When she woke up, the sun was getting up behind the tree too, and the space next to her was empty. It might have been all just a dream, if not for the cover that had been placed over her. A simple sign that she cared, maybe more than Raven ever thought.

She went back to Polis with a soft cover wrapped around her, and a smile on her face. Yes, she was definitely better here on earth, than with the stars. It was less crowded, and less lonely. 


End file.
